Review, Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten
Ravenous is an exciting, sensual paranormal romance!
Urban fantasy romance and the start of a new series!
Book details for Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten by Sharon Ashwood
Formats » Paperback
Book Review
Ravenous is a paranormal romance with an interesting alternate history backdrop. In this story, at the beginning of the new millennium, vampires, werewolves, gargoyles, ghouls, witches, and more came out into the open. The prologue says it better than I can with "Sure, in the old days there was the whole vampire mind-control thing, but now the world was one big bar code. Just try hypnotizing a computer. In the end, it was easier to give in than to hide an entire subpopulation from the electronic age."
This set the stage for Ravenous, and the beginning of the series, The Dark Forgotten.
In Ravenous, Holly Carver is a witch. She works spells to pay for college and she calls in Alessandro Caravelli, a vampire, when she needs help. An incident in her childhood left Holly unable to do "big-M" magic, but underneath her handicap, she's strong and capable, and I enjoyed getting to know her.
Alessandro Caravelli is a fascinating hero. His connection with the Queen Vampire, and Ashwood's good use of secondary characters, such as the cop MacMillan and Holly's boyfriend Ben, all made for taut and suspenseful reading.
At the heart of the story, though, is Holly's issues with big-M and the death of her parents. Without the ability to use big magic, Holly can't fight off the evil that's stalking her. Alessandro's help is essential, but he's a vampire. Holly and Alessandro's romance is sensual and sexy, with each knowing it's an impossible match. Ah, but love changes everything... and that's what I love about romance novels!
As the set up for a larger series, this book starts it well. I very much look forward to reading the books that follow!
Reviewed by TER
Book Description
In the year 2000, vampires, werewolves, and other paranormal creatures emerged from the shadows. The era of pitchfork-toting mobs was over, but integration with the normal world was a touchy affair, and not all monsters were willing to color inside the lines. The Changelings, a species long at war with the vampires, plan to open a portal into the preternatural version of Hell. Through the portal, they will summon a demon to defeat the vampires and take Fairview, and ocean-side university town, and the humans in it, for their own.
Holly Carver, hereditary witch and proprietor of her family's preternatural investigations business, must seek help from Alessandro Caravelli, the oldest and strongest vampire in Fairview and a peacekeeper in the local preternatural community. Holly aches to succumb to his suggestive wiles, but knows it would be an invitation to trouble. Alessandro hates Holly's plan to join the normal world. He prefers her the way she is. But after six hundred years of experience, he knows that human lovers, witch or not, always end up Turned or dead. With his kind, passion and the blood hunger are inseparable. But when the Changelings become more aggressive and Alessandro's sultry, manipulative, and dangerously jealous queen Omara returns to Fairview, Holly knows the battle has only begun.
Formats » Paperback
